ON-FORM England, who are finally making rugby league fans believe they have a good chance of lifting the World Cup, posted a record 94-4 win against Greece at Sheffield to finish on top of Group A, unbeaten at this stage for the first time in 27 years.
Big wins against Samoa at Newcastle, France at Bolton and now Greece in Sheffield means Shaun Wane’s men will have a mouth-watering quarter-final tie at Wigan next Saturday, November 5 (2.30), almost certainly against Papua New Guinea.
If you fancy being there, get your tickets now because they are sure to be in big demand this week.
Local man Marc Sneyd, who played at half-back alongside skipper-for-the-day George Williams, won the man-of-the-match award with a try, 13 goals and numerous try assists in a display of attacking rugby that bordered on the sublime.
The list of try scorers was headed by golden boy Dom Young, who collected four before half-time.
Ryan Hall, on the other wing, got two, as did prop Tom Burgess and hooker Andy Ackers.
The other seven, for the record, came from Matty Lees, George Williams, Tommy Makinson, Marc Sneyd, Joe Batchelor, Kai Pearce-Paul and Mike McMeeken.
In terms of what’s to come in the knock-out ties (last eight, last four, last two), the fear is that England have yet to experience a tough tie with little in it.
But coach Wane said:
“It would be wrong for people to think we might be undercooked. We’ve done a lot of physical work in training and, like the group games, we’ll go into our quarter-final next Saturday full of confidence.”
